Josh Hutcherson recalls missing out on 'Spider Man' gig

Josh Hutcherson has opened up about a near-miss that could have sent his career down a very different path.

During a recent appearance on Jesse Tyler Ferguson's Dinner's on Me podcast, the actor revealed that he was once "in the running" to play Spider-Man, before ultimately landing the career-defining role of Peeta Mellark in The Hunger Games film franchise.

The coveted superhero role eventually went to Andrew Garfield, who starred in The Amazing Spider-Man. The movie was released less than four months after The Hunger Games hit theaters in 2012. 

Looking back, Hutcherson described the whirlwind timing that reshaped his life.

"It was wild. It was crazy," he said. 

"Just like a few months before I got cast in Hunger Games, I was in the running to be Spider-Man."

Hutcherson admitted that being turned down for the Marvel role was difficult to process at the time.

"And so I had gotten told 'no' to Spider-Man, which as a teenager felt heartbreaking because I really obviously wanted to be Spider-Man," he shared.

However, the disappointment was quickly eclipsed by unexpected good news.

"Then, like a few months later, I got cast in Hunger Games, which is like the craziest turn of events," he said.

Reflecting on the trajectory of his career, Hutcherson added, “Just crazy how it works."

"Hunger Games just came out of nowhere, and it just changed everything,” he concluded.